CrowdStrike CEO eyes Fl team stake

LONDON - Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his stake in Mercedes F1 to CrowdStrike chief executive officer George Kurtz in a deal that would value the Formula One team at a record US$6 billion (S$7.82 billion), the Financial Times (FT) reported on Nov 11.

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Wolff, Mercedes-Benz and Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals giant Ineos currently each hold 33 per cent stakes.

Mercedes would not comment on the report but said “the governance of the team will remain unchanged and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One”. There was no comment from other named parties.

The FT and Sportico, which first reported the talks, indicated Wolff - who serves as team principal and head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport - planned to bring an outside investor into the holding company owning his stake. According to the FT, the investor would take about 5 per cent in the team, with Wolff remaining in his roles.

Sportico spoke of a “mid-single-digit stake”.